Sonic Co-Creator Yuji Naka Presenting At London Games Festival

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka will be at the upcoming UK Interactive Entertainment-run (formerly known as ELSPA) London Games Festival to present Prope's platformer Ivy the Kiwi?, alongside other notable events, organizers announced. Naka is best known as the co-creator of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog and as the former head of Sonic Team. He founded Prope in 2006 after leaving Sega, which helps fund the studio. Prope specializes in creating smaller, offbeat games, including Let's Tap for iPhone, Windows Phone and Wii, and Ivy the Kiwi?, which recently launched for Nintendo DSiWare and WiiWare, originally releasing in Japan on Windows Mobile in 2009. Naka told Gamasutra earlier this year that Prope is working on an unannounced action game, after putting another "Sonic-like platform game" on hold. The London Games Festival takes place September 30 through November 4, and is open to both members of the video game industry and the public. The festival is now in its fourth year, and will include consumer- and trade-focused events such as a Ubisoft Just Dance 2 party, game making workshops, the Games Media Awards and Eurogamer Expo. On October 29, the festival will also host the public-voted Golden Joystick Awards, which is in its 28th year. In a statement, London Games Festival director Kirsty Payne said that this year's festival is "stronger than ever." She added, "We're really looking forward to welcoming everyone to the festivities, from industry professionals to casual gamers and those that have not previously considered gaming as the diverse and electrifying entertainment medium that it is." For more information on the full slate of events at this year's festival, visit the official website.